The engineering ship returned to the ground, changing everything.
The fools who were "warming up the atmosphere" at the press conference were green with regret, while those innocent reporters—to put it bluntly, Osborn's mouthpieces—got the chance to enter the ship and take photos.
"Osborn shocks the World again! The super spaceship returns successfully, piloted by Harry Osborn himself!"
"During the month it disappeared, what exactly did Osborn do?"
Regarding these questions, Harry kindly stated that he had just gone up to launch a satellite and hadn't done anything remarkable.
With Harry's confirmation, the mystery of that huge artificial satellite was solved—it was an Osborn satellite!
In the eyes of ordinary people, ever since Iron Man appeared, the changes happening in the World seemed to be getting increasingly fantastical.
Iron Man, who can replace nuclear deterrence; a giant who can smash the downtown area to pieces; unmanned steel soldiers; nuclear fusion; neural implants; and now, a super spaceship.
The evaluation report on the Osborn Handy Type I was immediately sent to the Congressional Weapons Development Department, and the head of the department, Rhodes, sought out Harry again.
Congress wanted Harry to develop a Military aerospace plane for troop deployment and strategic bombing; in short, weapons development.
The thrusters and energy technology on the engineering ship exceeded existing technology; this stuff, like the mark armor, was black technology.
In the eyes of Congress, Osborn had never been very interested in weapons development, so they didn't hold out much hope.
But after the first conversation, they found that Harry had actually relented, though his asking price was very high.
"How interesting. Two years ago, my father was still worrying about the Military canceling orders, nearly getting kicked out by a bunch of greedy old men, and the company was almost acquired. Now, Congress is coming to my door instead."
Harry said with a smile, stroking his chin.
Rhodes frowned as he examined the detailed bill Harry had provided, which listed the budget required to develop the aerospace fighter.
"This is too much. 20 billion in annual research funding? Why don't you just rob someone?" Rhodes was stunned. "Wait a minute, don't you already have the ready-made technology?"
This was just for the aerospace plane's engine research, not the whole machine!
Harry shrugged; your money was stolen anyway, so what's wrong with giving me some?
Although others might not know, as one of Congress's sponsors and partners, Harry knew some insider information.
For example, this year's Military spending was nearly 600 billion U.S. dollars.
And while 600 billion seemed like a lot, that was only in terms of conventional weapons.
If you put S.H.I.E.L.D.'s helicarrier in front of Congress, never mind 20 billion, they'd pay 200 billion for it, and still feel like they'd made a profit.
Although that thing didn't have any outstanding combat records—the first one was blown up by the Alien Loki, which could be considered somewhat excusable, but the next three were totaled by Captain America and Black Widow as soon as they appeared.
You have to say, that's S.H.I.E.L.D. for you; having money makes you willful.
"R&D is very expensive, and this is an aerospace fighter—in short, it's different. I know you've been researching helicarriers; has dumping tens of billions into that thing every year yielded any results?"
Harry shrugged.
However, Harry knew that thing actually had some minor results, but they had been embezzled by S.H.I.E.L.D.
The price had been set, so it just depended on what Congress thought.
As for why Harry had suddenly relented—the aerospace plane would take a few years to develop, right? By then, Norman Osborn would have already ascended to power.
Rhodes thought for a moment and said, "So you don't intend to sell the ready-made thrusters and the ship?"
Harry shook his head; he was just here to swindle money.
Selling the finished product would be too stupid.
"Fine, fine, I will convey your meaning to Congress." Rhodes rubbed his forehead; he wasn't a congressman anyway, so it wasn't up to him to decide.
The first negotiation was fruitless; Rhodes went back with Harry's terms, as the Military Committee needed to discuss it a little.
And the Osborn Group would also help them consider it, trying their best to get it passed.
Anyway, it didn't matter who he sent money to; it was better to send it to himself.
After seeing Rhodes off, Harry made a call to Frank.
After landing, Harry assigned a separate task to Frank: go to a certain location in East Africa to recover a special projectile.
"Frank, did you find it?"
"Found it. It was 101 meters off from the coordinates you gave me. Sensor data collection is complete, and the bomb is in place."
"Very good, then come back."
Following Harry's order, the projectile was blown to pieces; not only that, but these fragments would be thrown into the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean respectively, completely destroying all evidence.
Feeling the returned data, Harry smiled; all indicators were normal.
This mysterious projectile—if it were part of something like a spaceship, it should be called an escape pod.
And if it were part of a strategic aerospace plane, it should be called an airdrop pod.
Judging from the sensor data, the airdrop pod could basically ensure that an ordinary person wouldn't lose any limbs, but this level of projection would still cause strong discomfort to the passengers, and in severe cases, could even lead to various internal injuries.
A trained soldier could largely overcome these problems, but suborbital airdrops were still quite dangerous.
However, these were all for ordinary people.
And if it were replaced with a bomb...
Considering the projection height and the bomb's power, the 101-meter error could almost be ignored.
Therefore, the aerospace bomber that Congress wanted really wasn't something too far off for Osborn.
"Although I don't know what you're thinking about, I have to remind you that your investment in aerospace technology has cost the company a lot of money." Hurley's voice pulled Harry back from his fantasies.
Harry patted his head; this was indeed a problem.
Although the existing business was very profitable, the things Harry was doing were not low-cost endeavors.
Apart from biotechnology, which didn't burn money—most of it was obtained through cheating—other things like nuclear fusion power plants, while having considerable profits, still needed time to break even.
There was a lot of biotechnology that Harry hadn't brought out for mass sale, such as the Active Enhancer; this stuff was the real profiteering.
The actual production cost didn't even exceed 200,000, but even the Type I Active Enhancer, which had the worst effect, could sell for an astronomical price of 10 million.
The rich's pursuit of immortality was truly insane.
After thinking for a moment, Harry said, "Then let's produce another batch of Type I Active Enhancers. Also, Dr. Connors has finished developing a new drug."
The original enhancer was diluted into several versions; after fully using Types I, II, and III, it could extend the user's life by about 10-20 years, and those old fogies loved it to death.
Just thinking about being able to fleece these old geezers made Harry feel much better.
That was a lot of money.
Besides that, the wound healing spray derived from it had also completed R&D, which was also a huge sum of money.
"Very good, it seems our Chairman and CEO has already figured out how to reap the wealth." Hurley tapped the tablet in her hand and joked.
"Right now, Osborn is making the World progress every second; how could the cash flow ever be cut off?"
That's what he said, but before the Battle of New York, financial capital still retained considerable control over the World, and Harry actually envied these people a bit; they could make money even while lying down.
By driving away other forces and monopolizing Osborn, although he had ensured the independence of the Osborn Group, just like Stark Industries, independence also meant isolation.
If it weren't for cheating, he would have been torn apart by others long ago.
In Iron Man 3, Tony was blown up by someone using an armed helicopter on U.S. soil, in his own home.
"Not only that, but I've also figured out how to spend this money; Osborn Aerospace needs to expand its scale, and we need our own outer space operations team."
"So, the President doesn't intend to continue serving as an astronaut, is that it?" Hurley joked.
Harry thought while taking off his coat: Let's see if you still have the energy to joke around in a while.
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